The Deal
by RicksIlsa
Summary: Regina's POV of the deal she made with Mr. Gold. Companion story to A Good Father, My Wee One, and Changes. You should especially read Changes to get the most out of this one.


Title: The Deal

Rating: PG

Summary: Regina's POV of the deal she made with Mr. Gold. Companion story to A Good Father, My Wee One, and Changes. You should especially read Changes to get the most out of this one.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. There is nothing we can do-"

Mayor Regina Mills slammed the phone down and growled in frustration. The sound echoed off the walls of her empty house and resonated in her empty heart. She had gotten her 'happy ending' all right, but the price had been steep.

The words Malificent had spoken to her before she had enacted the curse, came unbidden to her mind,: "It will create an emptiness inside you... a void you will never be able to fill."

At the time, she hadn't cared. As long as Snow White and all the others who had ever wronged her were miserable, she believed that she would be happy. But the satisfaction of their misery had worn off over time. Not that she would ever get tired of bullying poor Mary Margaret Blanchard…

Still, she had been unprepared for the aching loneliness that had begun to haunt her every waking moment. The Sheriff was a nice distraction, but she knew Graham could never love her. She had made that impossible. She had hoped that he might be able to give her something else. Something she hadn't really thought about until her conversation with Mr. Gold the other day.

They were in her office discussing zoning permits on properties he was interested in purchasing. A squeal from outside had them both looking out the window.

It was just a group of kids jumping rope on the sidewalk. Regina's lips had twisted in distaste.

"Noisy brats. There is a perfectly good park just around the corner, but they have to play right here where everyone is trying to work," she groused, expecting the man to share her dislike of children.

Surprisingly, he didn't.

"Oh, don't be too hard on 'em. Childhood lasts but such a short time. They're wise to take fun where an when they can," he said in his soft brogue.

Regina turned to study him as he continued to stare out the window.

"Really? _You_ like children?" she asked with a snort of disbelief.

"Really. I had a son... once," he confided, but continued to stare out the window.

Regina went rigid.

"I didn't know that."

"Well, you don't know everything about me, Dearie," he said with a small teasing smile.

The mayor searched his face for any sign that he might _know_ something that he shouldn't, but he just continued to give her his benign smile.

She turned and headed back to her desk, ready to resume their work, but he turned back to the window again.

"You know, children are good at filling that lonely void inside," he said and she spun back to look at him.

"What? What void? What the hell are you talking about?" she demanded, an unnamed fear coiling in her belly.

The look he gave her suggested she was acting a bit mad, so she took a breath and calmed herself.

"I didn't meant to upset you. I only meant that life can be a bit lonely. As mayor you've accomplished quite a bit, but even you must feel it at the end of the day, when you go home to that big empty house. It's a loneliness I can relate to."

She didn't say anything, so he continued.

"Children are good at relieving loneliness. I've had a hand in procuring a few children for lonely people..."

"You steal children?" she cut him off, appalled.

He laughed. A rich, full laugh that made her feel foolish.

"Of course I did'na steal any children! You will find, Madam Mayor, there are a great many children in this world, in our own country even, who are in need of a good home. Unfortunately, the laws make helping the little ones a bit difficult and it is a time consuming process. I am fortunate to have contacts that can help shorten the time, and ease the difficulties," he explained.

Regina was quiet as she thought over everything he had said.

"I'm willing to make a deal..."

"No," she cut him off again.

He arched an eyebrow at her rudeness and she sighed.

"No, thank you. I'm not interested. Now, about those permits..."

He hadn't mentioned his crazy offer again, but Regina had been unable to think of anything else.

She wanted a baby. It had become a desperate longing for her. Something that might actually help fill the gaping hole in her chest.

The idea of being pregnant did not appeal to her, but Mr. Gold's deal appealed even less. She was smiling at the thought of all the extra 'council sessions' that she and the sheriff would have to have, when she suddenly thought of Ashley.

Eighteen years ago, when they had all crossed from the fairytale world into this one, Ashley had been known as Cinderella. The girl had been hugely pregnant at that time, and since they were all imprisoned by time in this world, she had literally been pregnant for eighteen years. The curse made her unaware of this, but that didn't help the mayor's predicament. Unfortunately, Regina was also bound by this prison of time so conceiving and carrying a child would be impossible. Of course this new revelation only made her desire for a child even more desperate.

So she contacted adoption agencies and sought legal help only to find that Mr. Gold had been correct about 'time-consuming difficulties'.

Regina was in a foul mood when the man invited himself over that evening.

He needed her signature on his permit and could not wait one more day. Of course the real reason he had come to her at home was soon apparent.

"Oh, as a follow-up to our conversation the other day, I thought you might like to know that I have found a young woman who is in a spot of trouble."

Regina kept her expression carefully bored.

"Barely eighteen, in and out of foster homes her whole life... She fell in with the wrong crowd and has now found herself in prison... and is expecting a wee one soon," he told her.

"Sounds charming. Not sure why you think I'd be interested in the kid of a felon," she huffed.

But they both knew she was interested, or she would have thrown him out.

"It's not the little one's fault. Besides, she wants a quick, closed adoption. No contact ever."

He grinned and helped himself to an apple from an arrangement on the table.

Regina opened and shut her mouth a few times, but couldn't think of what to say.

"You think about it, Dear. Let me know what you decide," he said and turned to go.

She watched him leave, hating that he had this power over her. It was supposed to be _her_ happy ending!

He stopped at the door and turned back to look at her.

"And don't take too long. I'm sure the girl will get other offers..."

Damn him.

Five years later

Regina shut her eyes and forced herself to take deep steadying breaths. Part of her couldn't believe that she had actually struck Henry in the face, another part wished she had done it sooner. Fear was an excellent motivator to keep him in line, and it was what she knew best.

But there was another part that knew she was wrong to hit him. She had known that Henry would eventually figure out that things were 'off' with the town. She had just hoped she'd have more time. He wasn't old enough to understand everything she had done, or her reasons, and until he was, she couldn't tell him. But eventually, she would have to tell him something. Her biggest fear was that if he found out the truth too soon she would lose him forever.

Her musings were interrupted by an insistent rapping on her office door.

Frowning, she opened it to find Mr. Gold and a man who at one time had been Jimeny Cricket.

"What do you want?" she asked, not in the mood to deal with Gold and his games at the moment.

"Madam Mayor, you know Dr. Hopper?" The old man asked, head inclining slightly to the red haired man standing behind him.

The man nodded at her but didn't speak.

"Of course I do. What's this about?" she asked with a put-upon sigh.

"Dr. Hopper is a very good therapist, and I think little Henry would benefit from spending some time with him," Gold said, a little bluntly.

Her eyes flickered to the doctor then back to Gold.

"I don't have time for this," she said, and returned to her office.

She was almost at her desk, when the door was slammed shut so hard it splintered the wood.

She gaped up at Gold in shock.

"You'd be wise to listen to me, Madam. I went through a great deal of trouble to get that boy for you. The thing you wanted more than anything else..." His deceptively calm and even voice was disturbing after his violence against her door.

Regina stepped forward, placing her hands on her hips.

"I paid you for your..."

He waved her silent and pointed his cane at her.

"No, you paid for the quick adoption. I entrusted that child to you because you promised to care for him, but now I see him running down the street blinded by tears and bearing your hand print on his cheek."

The angrier he got the quieter his voice became, and that actually frightened her. Had he yelled and raged she could have put him in his place and kicked him out. But his intense angry glare and hissing almost-whisper had an icy cold spreading through her chest.

He didn't look like Mr. Gold, The Pawn Shop Owner, anymore. He looked like Rumpelstiltskin at the height of his power, when he could bring grown men to their knees in fear of his deals.

"I only..."

But he wasn't through.

"The boy is five years old. As a single mother with such a demanding job, it's no wonder that you might be struggling a bit. So it might be wise to rethink my _suggestion_ of contracting Dr. Hopper's services."

He turned to leave, and Regina felt indignation at being cowed in her own office. In her own happy ending.

"And if I don't?" she asked, raising her chin up at him in defiance.

The smile he gave her was not a happy one.

"If I see or hear of you ever striking that boy again, I will call child services. And though I may be very good at what I do, there is no absolute guarantee I can give you that the adoption papers will bear the scrutiny of their lawyers."

Regina felt the blood drain from her face at this new threat, and had to put a hand on her desk to steady herself.

"Reconsider Dr. Hopper. Please."

Her voice failed her, and all she could do was stand there and watch him leave.

She straightened her skirt and ran a hand through her hair. As much as Henry angered her, she could not fathom life without him. She needed him. He was the only one who could love her. One day, she would tell him everything and they would be able to fully enjoy her happy ending together. But until then...

She took a breath and opened her office door. The doctor had been looking around as if he was unsure whether or not to stay.

"Dr. Hopper, might I have a moment of your time?"

End

A/N: Next up, Mary Margaret's POV...


End file.
